Friday, October 7, 2016

Our Lady of the Rosary & the Battle of Lepanto

Our Lady of the Rosary, by Nicola Porta.

Today is the Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, formerly the Feast of Our Lady of Victory, and the annivesary of the great victory over the Ottoman Turkish fleet at the Battle of Lepanto.In 1570, the Ottoman Turks were on the advance under Sultan Selim II (reigned 1566-1574) – declaring war on the Republic of Venice and attacking the Most Serene Republic's possession of Cyprus. In September 1570, the Turks took Nicosia in Cyprus, massacring the inhabitants. They followed this up with the capture of the last Venetian stronghold in Cyprus at Famagusta in Aug 1571 after an 11 month siege.Pope St. Pius V (1566-1572), to combat the Turkish threat, put together the Holy League, consisting of Spain, Venice, and the Papal States. It was too late to save Cyprus, but on 7 October 1571, the fleet of the Holy League, under the command of the illegitimate son of Emperor Charles V (+1558), and half-brother of Philip II of Spain, Don Juan of Austria (+1578), met the Turkish fleet.Don Juan of Austria.The Battle of Lepanto.They would meet the Ottomans off the coast of Greece in a grand naval battle: the Battle of Lepanto! The battle line was five miles long (270 Ottoman vs. 220 Holy League vessels), and this was the last great battle of oared ships in history. The Ottomans lost 15-20,000 killed to 7,500 Holy League men, with 15,000 Christian slaves freed. The image of Our Lady of Guadeloupe was actually present at the battle, as was Miguel Cervantes, author of Don Quixote!The Battle of Lepanto, as portrayed in the Vatican Museums.St. Pius V famously had a vision in Rome of the victory having been won, and informing his advisors of the fact long before word came to the Eternal City.Pope St. Pius V, OP.This great victory halted the advance of the fleets of the Ottoman Empire, and inspired, in gratitude, the establishment of the Feast of Our Lady of Victory, which became the of Our Lady of the Rosary by order of Pope Gregory XIII in 1573 -- after the prayer the Catholic world had offered for victory.

For more on the Holy Rosary, that glorious prayer that is particularly commemorated today, you might note:

Pope Leo XIII wrote a number of Papal Encyclicals -- one of which you can find here: Laetitiae SanctaeFinally, G. K. Chesterton has a brilliant poem on the battle, which I present for you here:LEPANTO, by G. K. Chesterton: